“I’m in the front row.” Or not.

Unlike the celebrities in this NY Times story, like Bob Uecker, famously does not sit in the front row. And to drive that point home, the Milwaukee Brewers will honor their long-time broadcaster with a statute in the last row at their home Miller Park. Uecker was the “star” of a number of Miller Lite commercials back in the day, but I can’t find that particular spot where he uttered his signature line online.

I once met Uecker several years ago when I was working as a free-lancer for STATS during a Mets-Brewers game (this was an interleague contest, before Milwaukee was transferred to to the NL). It was after the Mets murdered the Brewers, who made several errors. We were in the press elevator together, just the two of us, and I felt I had to say something. So I told him how much I had admired his “work” as a humorist, including his book, Catcher In Wry Can . He said thanks then let loose a string of profanities about the poor play of his team, and not in a funny way.

NEW!
Free 501 checklist available (Excel/spreadhseet format). Makes it fun to check off which books you've read and handy to bring to the bookstore or library to get what you still want to read. Send your request via email to ronkaplansbaseballbookshelf (@)gmail(dot)com.

Ron by Roth

In my "day job," I'm the features and sports editor for a weekly New Jersey newspaper. I'm also the editor of the Bibliography Committee Newsletter for the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).

I did a piece on the award-winning cartoonist Arnold Roth and he was nice enough to "immortalize" me.